Public Hearings on Wake County’s Budget Begin This Week

Wake County citizens will have the opportunity to offer their opinions on the county's proposed $1.24 billion budget at two public meetings on June 5.

In past years, some public hearings have been robustly attended, while others have drawn only a handful of people.

This year, the schools budget is a particular matter of contention, as county manager James Hartmann has responded to the school system's request for $45 million in new funding by offering less than half of that and telling the system to use $21 million in reserve funds to make up the difference.

It's hard to know how much weight the county commission puts on comments made in public hearings. But the appearance of large groups of people supporting or opposing specific pieces of the budget has made an impact before. In 2015, for example, commissioners approved a 3.65-cent property tax increase after more than thirty-five people spoke in favor.